Lampard is convinced that Chelsea are destined to renew their rivalry with Spanish giants Barcelona at some stage of the season.

In an interview with Chelsea fanzine cfcuk, he said: “I don’t think any other English team would have beaten Barcelona over two legs like we did last season.

“When I watched the 2011 final when they played Manchester United, I think we were the one team that could have given them a game because we’d done it against them for many years before.

“We knew we had the attributes to win against them, mainly in the fact that we can mix it up. We can be powerful and clinical and we can also play good football.

“A few teams have been beaten by Barcelona because they’ve tried to play them at their own game. Arsenal have gone there and tried to play beautiful football but Barcelona are the best in the world playing that way.

“But when Chelsea play it with our power and the different attributes we’ve got, we’re the one team who can take them on.

“We were also confident that we’d be able to sit back, soak up the pressure and hit them on the break, which is what we did.

“That 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp was the outstanding result of last year — down to 10 men, backs against the wall and 2-0 down against one of the greatest club sides there is. I didn’t think that night could ever be beaten. But it was topped by what happened in Munich.

“After eight years of trying to win the Champions League it worked out in the end and became 10 times better.”